Ejercicio 2.3 · Inglés PAU Galicia Extraordinaria 2024

TEXT B

I am always both amused and annoyed when I hear foreign people criticize English food. “It’s boring, it’s tasteless, and it’s chips with everything and totally overcooked vegetables”. When I ask these visitors where they have experienced English cooking, I am astonished by their reply. “In Wimpy and MacDonald’s Hamburger restaurants”, they often say. I have won my case. Their conclusions are inexcusable.

I have a theory about English cooking, and I was interested to read that several famous cookery writers agree with me. Our basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that we haven’t had to invent sauces and complex recipes to disguise their natural taste. What can compare with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled (not overboiled) and served with butter? Why should one drown spring lamb in wine or cream or yogurt and spices, when with just one or two herbs it is absolutely delicious?

It is interesting to speculate about the roles that geography and climate play in the creation of a country’s food. We complain about our wet and changeable weather, but it is the rain which gives us our rich soil and green grass. “Abroad”, says Grigson, “poor soils meant more searching for food, more discovery, more invention, whereas our ancestors sat down to plenty without having to take trouble”.

If you ask foreigners to name some typically English dishes, they will probably say “Fish and chips” and then stop. It is disappointing, but true, that in England there is no tradition of eating in restaurants, because our food doesn’t lend itself to such preparation. English cooking is found in the home, where it is possible to cook dishes perfectly well. It is for these reasons that we haven’t exported our dishes, but we have imported a surprising number of them from all over the world. In most cities in Britain you’ll find many international restaurants. Cynics will say that this is because we have no ‘cuisine’ ourselves, but, well, you know what I think!

2.3. Write a composition answering this question: [2.5 points]

Do you think cooking should be taught at school? Why? (Approximately 120 words)